Blank Slate
by Thalassa Promise
Summary: When Naminé is given a heart alongside Roxas and Axel, she is trusted to reproduce their memories within the safety of the digital Twilight Town. However, still recovering her own past, will she be able to successfully reproduce the memories that made Roxas and Axel the Nobodies they were, or will they become entirely different people? Plotline is post-DDD, but spoiler-free for DDD
1. Awaken

The stillness of air. The quietness of breath. Nothing moved, nothing changed. It was like floating, but more rigid, more solid. All at once, she was _there_.

"It is time for you to awaken, -."

"C'mon, -! You can do it!"

The voices were muffled. She couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Blue orbs like sapphires fluttered open, bit by bit at first, then fully and completely. There was a haze in front of her, thick and making the figures before her mere blobs. Slowly they came into focus, their contours aligning with one another into a single form. Then her eyes shut again. Darkness.

 _Ba-dump. Ba-dump._

The pounding echoed in her ears and gently rocked her tiny frame. It was reassuring and warm, and oddly familiar. There was a pressure in her chest, but it didn't hurt. It just made her… feel.

"She opened her eyes."

"Wake up. Naminé!"

It was as though a light broke through her eyelids and wrenched them open once more. It took a moment for everything to come into focus, and when they did, it took her a moment to register there were people looking up at her.

Her body was suspended, like in water, but there was no liquid anywhere around her. Her breath came out, warm on her lips. She began to sink, and delicately her feet found their place on the bottom of whatever it was she had been floating. Her weight pressed down on them, then spread to her ankles, through her legs, up until she straightened herself.

Her blonde hair fell softly over her shoulder, and her hands fell to her sides, brushing the edges of her thin, white dress. Her eyes fell on the three standing before her.

"Good morning, Naminé!" the shortest greeted brightly. He was a boy, and his eyes were just as azure as her own. They were hidden beneath a curtain of spiky, brown hair, which came off his head at every angle imaginable. "How are you feeling?"

"Give her a second to adjust," the other boy scolded. His eyes were almost completely hidden beneath his silver bangs, but Naminé could still see aquamarine orbs shining through. He was almost an entire head taller than the other boy. Something was strangely familiar about the both of them.

"Yes, we mustn't rush her," said the third. He wasn't a boy at all, but an old wizard complete with a blue, pointy hat that sat atop his head. He had a long, gray beard that reached halfway down his body, and tiny black pupils that held years of knowledge within them. "Take your time, Naminé. Come to terms with the new awakening you have been granted."

Hesitantly, Naminé shuffled her feet off the device, slowly placing them on the floor. She looked between the three others, who stared at her as though she was on display. She wondered if she could talk like they did, so freely, so easily.

So she tried.

"Sora," she said, so quietly it was barely a whisper. "Riku."

The brunette laughed.

"You remember!" he exclaimed. "Riku, she remembers us!"

"I do… but I don't know why… I do," Naminé replied.

"I see," the sorcerer mused, stepping forward. "Your most powerful memories are already surfacing. It will take time, but soon you will find that you can recall everything. Do not rush yourself, however. Take your time."

Naminé looked up at him.

"Who are you?" she asked. "And why… am I here?" She could have asked where "here" was, too, but words still felt foreign on her tongue.

"I am Master Yen Sid," the old man said, "and this is my tower. You have been brought here because we are in need in your unique power."

"My… power?"

"You don't remember?" Sora asked. "You—"

"Need to remember that for yourself," Riku cut him off. "It won't do you any good if we tell you."

"Okay," Naminé replied, giving a shallow nod.

"To continue," Master Yen Sid began, "you have been granted a second chance. It took much time and even greater patience, but we have placed within you a heart of your very own. It is still new and very fragile, so we must treat it with care."

 _Ba-dump. Ba-dump._

So that's what it was.

"We have a very important mission for you," he continued. "While you may not have regained all your memories, you are still in a much better position than our other comrades."

"There are… others?"

"Yes," Riku answered, and stepped off to the side. Naminé followed him with her eyes and paused as she saw two more strange devices like the one she had just emerged from. They were mostly opaque, but at their very top she could make out two heads. One was blonde, the other a burning red.

"Roxas?" she asked softly. "Axel?"

"That's right," Riku said. "Just like you, they stopped existing a while ago. We were able to bring them back the same way we did with you, but the way you disappeared was a lot less complicated. You disappeared because you chose to return to where you belonged. Roxas went through a lot of changes while he existed, and Axel faded away before he could become human again."

"What all that means, at least what everyone's been telling me, is that their memories won't come back on their own, not like yours," Sora explained. "That's why we need your help. You can help bring their memories back."

"I can."

It wasn't a question. Something in her told her everything would work out. She wasn't sure what power she held, much less how to use it, but she was certain that in the end, it would all come together for the better. Was this what having her own heart felt like?

"Then it is settled," Master Yen Sid announced. "We must begin at once if we hope to receive any help from them in the struggles ahead."

Riku nodded and went to press a button on the side of one of the devices. He was stopped by the door beside him opening suddenly a revealing a petite girl with crimson hair and eyes that matched Naminé's own.

"Xehanort's moving again," she said quickly. "Ven just got here and told me—"

Her voice trailed off as she noticed the other girl in the room.

"Naminé?" she asked.

"Kairi?"

 _How did she know all of these names?_ she wondered. But she knew for certain the girl was Kairi. She knew that there was something very special about her, or perhaps it was more about herself in relation to her. Either way, they had a special connection, and Naminé's memory wouldn't let her forget it.

"I'm so glad to see you're okay!" the redhead smiled. "I want to talk to you, Naminé, as soon as I can. But right now there's trouble."

"Any clue as to where he's headed?" Master Yen Sid interjected.

"He's close," Kairi replied. "He might even be heading this way. Ven thinks he caught wind of what we're trying to do with Naminé and the others."

"If Xehanort finds out how we made a heart, we could be in trouble," Riku muttered. "We can't keep them here."

"I know where we could take them!" Sora exclaimed. "It's a place where we've all been before. It's a safe place that I don't think Xehanort even knows about, but Roxas, Naminé, and Axel sure will!"

"Of course," Riku said, shaking his head with a smile. "But how do we get them to Twilight Town? Waking Roxas and Axel here would only make them confused and it could damage their hearts."

"How about this?" Kairi suggested, and calmly revealed a blue and green star she had been keeping in her bag. "King Mickey is letting me borrow it until I get a better hang of using the Keyblade Glider. But if Naminé needs it, I don't mind lending it out."

Kairi looked to Master Yen Sid for approval, and he gave a deep nod. Smiling, the girl walked over to Naminé, holding out the odd object.

"All you have to do is hold on to this and think of the place you want to go most," she explained. "Think about it with all your heart!"

"But I don't even remember what Twilight Town looks like," Naminé whispered.

"That's okay, I do!" Sora grinned. "I'll take the Star Shard, Kairi. I can help Naminé and the others get settled. Then I'll come help you guys with Xehanort!"

"You think I'm gonna let you bungle this up before it even gets started?" Riku smirked. "Besides, you don't even know how to work those computers."

"I could figure it out!"

"Yeah, and probably blow up everything in the process."

"Would not!"

Naminé giggled. She couldn't help it. She looked to her side to see Kairi laughing as well. A special connection… What was it again? It was on the tip of her tongue.

"Enough banter," Master Yen Sid said, his voice stern. "I agree that Riku should accompany you, Sora. It is better to be safe than sorry in these kinds of situations. Kairi, go back to Ventus and explain to him we will be there to stave off Xehanort and the Heartless as soon as we can. Be careful."

"Yes, Master Yen Sid," the three replied with a nod. Naminé gave a nod as well, but it wasn't nearly as confident and came in a little late.

"Okay, Naminé, you'll need to come stand by us!" Sora instructed. Naminé did as she was told and stood between the two boys.

There was a sudden warmth as Sora took her hand, and then another as Riku held the other. She looked between them. They were so kind, and had always been. She knew that. She knew they all had done something very special for her, something even beyond giving her a heart. She wished desperately she could remember what it was. Then she could thank them properly.

Riku put his free hand on one of the pods, and Sora somehow managed to do the same while still clutching the Star Shard. Master Yen Sid had already gone back behind his desk, looking between their small group, Kairi, and the stars out his window. Naminé could tell from the tension in the room; something very bad was about to happen here.

"Naminé." Kairi's voice reached her although the other girl was at the door about to leave. "When all this is over, we'll be able to talk about everything. And if you ever need me, you know I'm here for you."

"Thank you, Kairi," Naminé smiled. "I'll remember that. All of it."

"See you soon."

There was a sad smile on her face now, and Naminé couldn't be sure if her parting words were meant only for her, or also for the boys standing by her side. They needed to hurry. Kairi needed her friends.

A light began to grow from the Star Shard squeezed in between Sora's fingers. Instinctively, Naminé's grip on his hand and Riku's tightened, and she clamped her eyes shut. Even through her lids she could still see the light expand, and its warmth spread over her face and whisked her hair behind her back.

Then she was floating again. It wasn't the same floating as she'd experienced when she'd first woken up. She felt whole this time, and she held onto Sora and Riku's hands the entire time. They kept her grounded while her body was suspended in air, or within the light of the Star Shard. She still wasn't sure what was going on.

Just as suddenly as they had disappeared, there was a loud pop as they stumbled into a cold room with a hard floor. Naminé kept her eyes closed a moment longer until she felt Sora's hand loosen in her grip.

"We made it!"

As Sora drifted away, Naminé hesitantly raised her head and opened her eyes. The room was dark and looked as though no one had set foot in it for several months, perhaps even a year. The air was stale and everything was covered in dust. It felt lonely, even though Sora had only moved a few inches away and Riku was still holding her hand.

It felt horribly familiar.

"Is this Twilight Town?" she asked. It wasn't what she'd had in mind, or what she'd thought she'd been remembering.

"Part of it," Riku answered. His hand pulled away from hers. "This is the old mansion past the woods. Does it feel familiar to you?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"We spent a long time here." There was a troubled look on his face. Naminé studied it and followed his gaze as it slowly fell on one of the screens above them. There was a silhouette there with tons of data still racing across the screen.

"But don't worry, you won't be stuck here," Sora grinned, tearing Naminé's eyes from the screen and turning them to him. He struck a strong resemblance to the silhouette, she realized. "The place we're gonna put you guys is a lot better than this old dump."

"But we need to get things ready for you first," Riku added. He passed her and went to one of the many keyboards spread out in front of yet another set of screens.

"What does all of this mean?" Naminé wondered aloud.

"You'll probably remember it after not too long," Sora replied. "You'll start to remember lots of stuff. Soon, you'll be able to go outside and meet all kinds of people, eat some ice cream, maybe even watch the sun set!"

"One problem." Sora and Naminé quickly turned to Riku as he typed away at the computer. "We forgot about Betwixt and Between."

"Oh yeah," Sora said, nodding. "Well, no problem! We can get that locked off easy, right? Besides, wasn't The World That Never Was reconstructed after we beat Xemnas? Betwixt and Between should've been cut off."

"It's still a pathway anyone can access."

"Yeah, but they have to know it's there. And the only people I know who know about it are you, me, Kairi, and Axel."

"We'll just keep an eye on it, and see if we can lock it out when we get over there.

Naminé let them talk. There were so many words being said that she didn't understand. Between what? And how could a world never be? Her head spun at that thought, making her lean against the wall. There was something familiar about that world, but she couldn't quiet place her finger on it.

"You okay, Naminé?"

She looked up to find Sora had come to her side and was looking her over.

"I'm okay," she replied. "Just… there's a lot I still need to figure out."

"Yeah… you can do it, though!" The spiky-haired boy beamed. "We'll give you some time to think about it before we put you in the datascape."

"The what?"

"There you go again, using words to overwhelm her," Riku sighed. Sora's face dropped and he looked slightly panicked.

"I'm sorry! Was that a bad word to use?" he asked frantically.

"You're just giving her a lot at once. Naminé." The blonde girl looked past Sora to lock eyes with his friend. "Don't try to remember everything at once. It'll all come back to you, it'll just take time. That's why we're going to put you and Roxas and Axel inside a fake Twilight Town."

"A fake?" Naminé repeated. "Is that so this Xehanort won't find us?"

"Exactly," Riku nodded. "Nothing there is real, so if something goes wrong, you can let us know and we can try to fix it from the outside. It'll be the perfect place for you to take the time you need to remember yourself, and then to help Roxas and Axel remember, too."

"Okay. I'm not sure I completely understand what this all means, but I'll try."

"That's the spirit!" Sora smiled. "Oh, I almost forgot… We have a present for you!"

He rummaged through his pouches and pockets for a moment, muttering to himself as he tried to find whatever he was looking for. Finally, he was able to produce a beautiful sketchbook with pages as white as snow, all bound together by an ornate, silver chain.

"Ta da!" he grinned as he handed the sketchbook to her. "This is our gift to you, Naminé! To thank you for all you've done to help us, and all you're about to do!"

Naminé reached out and took the sketchbook from him, gingerly turning it over in her hands. At first she found she couldn't breathe; the book was so gorgeous, and it fit in her palms perfectly, as though it was meant to be there. She had a special love for drawing, she remembered. Sora and Riku had known that.

"I… don't know what to say," she gasped. "Thank you. I… I really like it."

Her words didn't seem convincing, but the grin that had broken across her features lit her face up almost as brightly as the Star Shard.

"You'll need that to help you recover your memories, and theirs," Riku explained, nodding to the pods that still held a sleeping Roxas and Axel inside. "But we wanted to be a little better than your last one, since you deserve it."

"Riku?" Sora said. "You think we should go check out the digital Twilight Town real fast? We need to get back to Master Yen Sid and the others."

"Right." Riku tapped a few more buttons on the keyboard, and a thin light appeared over a pad across the room. "We'll be right back, Naminé. We just need to check on a few things, and then we can send you and the others in."

"Okay." Naminé gave a shallow nod. She didn't like the sound of being left alone.

"Don't worry, we won't be long!" Sora assured her. She smiled softly at him, but wasn't convinced.

Riku crossed the room and gave a look to Sora over his shoulder before touching the light and disappearing instantly. Naminé gasped and nearly dropped her notebook.

"Don't worry!" Sora laughed. "He's okay. Look at the screen!" He pointed to one of the screens above Naminé's head, and she turned to look at it. On the monitor was the same room they were in now, but it was empty. There was a blip and suddenly Riku was visible on the screen. He looked up at the camera and folded his arms over his chest.

"Sora!" he called impatiently. "Hurry up!"

Sora laughed again and started toward the light.

"Sora?"

He stopped, turning to look at Naminé, though she had a difficult time maintaining eye contact with him.

"You sure you'll be right back?" she asked.

"Of course we will," he grinned. "Here."

He turned away from the light and approached her, raising his hand and extending his pinky.

"What's this?" she asked.

"It's a promise," he answered. "With it, I can come back to you. I have to!"

Naminé smiled and linked her pinky with his.

"Right. A promise is a promise."

The pair smiled at each other for a moment, and then jumped in unison when they heard Riku clear his throat at them through the monitor. The pair of them looked between each other again before laughing quietly.

"Right, I should get going," Sora said, smiling sheepishly. "We'll be back before you know it."

"I know you will," Naminé replied, cradling her pinky in her hands and smiling at it.

Sora turned back toward the light and slowly raised his hand to the light. Inches from it, he hesitated.

"Maybe you should sit down, try to think about what you can remember," he suggested, looking over his shoulder at her. "And try drawing! That might help you, too!"

Naminé nodded, and her smile faded as the brunette disappeared by touching the light.

All was still, and again she was alone.


	2. Rebirth

Naminé stood there a moment longer, eyes flickering between the place where Sora had disappeared and the monitor where he and Riku now stood. The pair of them smiled down at her before giving a wave and leaving off the side of the screen. Again, she was completely by herself. Something about this felt horribly familiar, and she felt her knees begin to buckle as thoughts rushed to her mind.

Catching herself on the wall, the blonde managed to push herself over to the seat by all the computers, sitting down like Sora had suggested. She took a few deep breaths, shutting her eyes and trying to sort out the memories that were flowing back to her like rapids. They were so brief and powerful that she couldn't make any of them out. They were blurs to her, voices buzzing in her head.

She needed to sort them out.

Clutching the sketchbook to her chest, she kept her eyes shut and tried to think. What was the first thing she remembered? Nothing came to mind, just the constant buzzing of many past voices and the rush of foggy pictures in her head. She tried as hard as she could to single them out, but they remained just out of reach, somehow slipping through her fingers and evading her grasp.

If she couldn't hold on to them now, she decided, then she would try to think of something else. Shakily, her eyes fluttered open, only to find nothing in the physical world around her had changed. Her blue orbs flicked to the monitor above her, but there was still no sign of Riku or Sora. Naminé wondered absently what it was they were doing. They said they had to prepare a digital Twilight Town for her, Roxas, and Axel. What did that mean?

She looked over at the two sleeping boys in their strange contraptions. There was something so familiar about all of this, but she knew if she tried to sort it out now, she would just be overwhelmed. She couldn't help the memories coming back to her; everything she saw here reminded her of things she couldn't quite recall.

Subconsciously, her fingers fiddled with the sketchbook she had been given and she soon found she had pried it open to the first blank, milk-white page. She traced her fingertips over its surface; it was so smooth, with just enough texture to catch graphite or anything else she could choose to etch upon its pages. In the spiral on the top of the sketchbook, she found several crayons stuffed inside, enough to make any color she would ever need. A smile graced her features. She didn't need her memories to remember how to draw.

Poking the crayons through the spirals, they fell into her hands and she sorted through them on the keyboard beside her. Nesting them among the keys, she selected one and began to sketch. Every now and then, she would glance up at Roxas and Axel, examining their faces. How interesting, she thought, that she didn't need to be told which person was who. She already knew. And soon, it was Roxas's face that appeared in her sketchbook, each of its subtle curves replicated perfectly on the page. He looked so natural in sleep.

Satisfied with her work, Naminé flipped the page. She then began work on Axel. His face was much sharper, more triangular than Roxas's. Even though his eyes were closed, she could remember his sharp green irises, how they seemed to analyze everything they fell on. She drew them closed anyway, his tight, tiny eyebrows relaxed over his eyelids.

She finished putting the last few fly-away strands of fire-red hair on his head, then pulled her sketchbook away to examine her work. She flipped between Axel's portrait and Roxas's, holding the sketchbook up so her drawings covered the real versions' faces. Their likeness was stunning. She smiled to herself and quickly etched their names below their chins. Perhaps she would give these drawings to them when they woke up, if they woke up.

Why had she awoken while the two of them still slept so soundly?

Naminé looked back at the monitor. Sora and Riku weren't there, not that she expected any differently. Sighing quietly, she closed her sketchbook and placed it in her lap. At least the memories had stopped flooding her mind. It was a lot quieter now, and the gentle humming of the computers in the room reached her ears.

Perhaps now was the time for her to try to remember something. Taking a slow and long breath, the tiny blonde let her eyes fall shut once again. Instead of seeing the back of her eyelids, white walls appeared and gradually came into focus.

 _Everything around her was white. The floors, the walls, the ceiling, even her dress. She was curled up in the corner of the room, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist and her knees pulled up to her chest. She didn't remember how she got there. She didn't remember sitting down and falling asleep. She wasn't even sure she had been asleep. She was awake now, and the world around her was strange and new._

 _Slowly, the girl got to her feet. The clack they made when her heels hit the floor startled her. Was that the first sound she ever heard? A breath came out, shaky and unsure. Had she been holding her breath? She felt hollow. She placed a hand against the wall, steadying herself. The room was so big, and it only made her feel smaller._

 _She wanted to call out, to see if anyone was there with her. For some reason, she felt as though she was not alone; perhaps in that room she was, but somewhere, there had to be someone. She could feel them. She didn't like this sense of being alone. She was determined to find whoever she felt was with her, though their presence was very faint, and not long after wandering, she found she couldn't remember it anymore._

 _She wandered a long time, learning how to navigate the building and never finding a window or a door to see out of. It was as though she was wandering through a white oblivion, making no progress no matter how many rooms she saw or how many stairs she climbed. She would stop from time to time, allowing herself to lean up against one of the many identical walls, letting her eyes fall shut and descend into the warm embrace of sleep._

 _She would awaken again, and continue to wander. She couldn't tell how long she did this, just that nothing ever changed, but she never stopped walking. She never found her voice, as she had no reason to use it, and never saw herself or another person. Occasionally she would look down at the floor and see the faint reflection of herself looking back up at her, but all she could make out were blurry blue marks for eyes, a nose, and a mouth, and then thin, pale limbs for arms and legs._

 _The girl wandered for as long as she could remember, and then one day – which blurred in with all the rest – something did change. It wasn't much, just a book that she found in the corner of the room, along with a collection of pale crayons. She didn't know why she knew what to do with them, but she immediately picked up both the book and the crayons, then found a place to sit and began to draw._

 _At first, she didn't know what to draw. There weren't many options. All she had ever seen in this castle was white. She had seen herself, but not clearly. She decided to draw herself anyway, replicating the blurry lines she could see in the reflections on the floor exactly. Those scribbles, unclean and uneven, were her. She drew herself over and over, unable to make the image any clearer than it already was. After what felt like a million drawings, she finally wrote a word beneath her picture: Naminé._

 _Naminé would become how she identified herself. More time passed and she continued to draw herself. Sometimes she would add the castle walls to her drawings, and occasionally she tried to draw other people. They never worked out as well as her own portrait, so she threw them away._

 _After a long time, thoughts drifted into Naminé's mind and created places she had never seen, and people she had never met. She couldn't see anything clearly, but it was enough to inspire her to draw. The day she began to create the pictures of new places, she was near the top of the castle. She had found it had thirteen floors above and twelve floors below. She was on the twelfth floor above when she planted herself in the middle of the room and started to draw the worlds she had seen._

 _They varied in size and color, and she could almost taste the air and feel the streets of these new places, though she was sure she had never seen them before. There was always someone in these places, a boy, and he exuded happiness and determination. She couldn't draw him, but it was almost as though she could feel his presence in that very castle. She wanted so desperately to meet him, just to see him once, to prove that he was more than just a friend she made up in her head to combat the loneliness._

 _She drew the worlds he visited in her mind, and after finishing the first one tore it from her sketchbook. Unsure what to do with it, she posted it to a wall. Stepping back, she examined her work from a distance, and when she was satisfied, decided to leave it there. It was nice to have some color in the room. Pleased with herself and her work, she decided to add a picture to every floor, so at the very least it wouldn't seem so dull. At the very best, she could pretend to go on adventures with the boy in her head._

 _Naminé worked quickly, drawing many worlds and filling all the floors from the twelfth to the first. When she reached the bottom, she tried as she had done many times before to go outside. Maybe all of her drawings, by some miracle, would come to life outside the castle's doors. Maybe the boy would be there waiting for her. But just like every other time, she could barely crack the doors open, and outside was a barren wasteland filled mostly with black. She could have ventured out, she knew, but the endless darkness that so contrasted the blinding white that was all she knew was far too intimidating. Again, she slunk back into the castle._

 _She worked her way back up the floors, seeing her singular pictures on the walls of each. They made her smile as she passed them by, and she decided she should continue her work, add other walls. She picked her favorite picture, a world filled with blue and green and yellow, a beach, and started to draw other views of it. She stuck the pictures all over the walls, and when she was done, she worked back up._

 _By this time it was getting late, and Naminé knew she would not finish all her work this evening. She posted the last of her pictures on the second floor, then started down to the first floor once more. Tonight she would sleep in the room with the island, hoping that when she awoke, the ocean would come to life in the room._

 _However, as she stepped foot onto the first floor and pushed open the main room's doors, she realized something had changed. She heard noise from behind the door, the calm cawing of birds. There was the gentle push and pull of waves crashing on sand. As the door cracked open, a blast of salty sea air hit her, throwing her blonde locks over her shoulders and forcing her eyes closed. Bright sunlight turned the backs of her eyelids red with its glow, and she stumbled forward._

 _As she eased herself into the room, she heard the door close behind her. Surprised, she forced her eyes to open. All around her was the very same world she had seen in her mind, but much clearer and real. She couldn't find her breath at first, taken aback by all she saw. The world had come to life. Ever curious, Naminé inched closer to the water's edge, then placed her foot in the path of the ocean as it lapped up on the shore. The cool touch of the sea tickled her toes as it leapt over her sandals and she quickly pulled her foot back._

 _She was frightened. She didn't know why. This was precisely what she had hoped would happen. There had been a voice in her head, though, that had told her there was no way this was possible. Something was wrong. Worlds couldn't spring up with nothing but pictures posted to a wall. She could not find the door back to the second floor. She ran blindly, opening different doors and hoping one would lead her the right way, but each took her deeper and deeper into the island._

 _Finally, just as she was out of breath and giving up hope of ever finding a way out, she shoved open a door and stumbled forward into a white hall. She saw the floor first and a smile broke across her face. These rooms could be escaped, she realized, and that opened the possibility for her to go anywhere in the universe, real or imagined._

" _What do we have here?"_

 _The voice was so unexpected, and Naminé was so blinded from the island's sunlight that she had not noticed the door to the castle had been opened, and that she was no longer the only one standing in its entrance hall._

 _She looked up, seeing crisp, black contours of a man wearing a cloak standing before her, and a flash of pink hair as she lifted her eyes to see his face._

" _Who are you?" he asked._

" _I…" Naminé whispered, the first words to ever leave her lips, "I am…"_

"Naminé!"

Her name sounded so suddenly and loudly that Naminé nearly jolted out of her chair. The world was again filled with color, and the stillness with which she had left it to explore her past had remained the same. However, Sora was a few inches from her face, inspecting her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" he laughed lightly.

"Then maybe you shouldn't have shouted at her," Riku muttered, and Naminé saw that he had returned as well, standing just behind Sora as he looked over Roxas and Axel's pods.

"Well she didn't say anything the first time!" Sora frowned, straightening up. "I was afraid she fell back asleep like those two."

"No, I'm okay," Naminé explained, picking up her sketchbook and standing. "I was just trying to remember things."

"How did that go?" Riku asked, and he stopped what he was doing to look at her.

"I think I remembered a lot," she answered truthfully. "But… I know there are still a lot of parts missing. I can't quite remember how I know you two, but I know I should."

"Don't worry, you'll figure it out," Riku smiled. "I'd tell you but you've got to do that work for yourself."

"Riku's right, you'll get it!" Sora agreed. "Did you get a chance to draw anything?"

Naminé nodded and flipped open her sketchbook to show off the pictures she had drawn of Axel and Roxas. Riku gently nudged her to the side as Sora gaped at her artistry, and out of the corner of her eye she saw the older boy tapping away at the computer.

"You're so good at this, Naminé," Sora was saying. "Those look just like them!"

"I just drew what I saw," Naminé explained, but she couldn't hide the small smile that appeared on her face and in her voice.

"You'll be needing to use that when you go into the digital Twilight Town," Riku explained, pausing and looking over his shoulder at her. "You might not remember it, but you have a very strong power in your drawings. You can—"

"Make things become real," Naminé finished. "At least, it's something like that."

"You're close," Riku replied. "Rather than make things real, you arrange memories, which can be just as real to someone as anything else. You can rewrite memories entirely to be something they're not, or you can remind people of things they've long forgotten."

"And I'm going to do that for Roxas and Axel, aren't I?"

Riku nodded.

"That's why we're gonna put you in the digital Twilight Town with them," Sora explained. "There, you don't have to worry about working fast or remembering everything at once. Nothing in there will be real unless you make it, so you can take things at your own pace and you'll be perfectly safe."

"I'm entering the coordinates for Roxas and Axel's locations right now," Riku continued. "Once I put them in the simulation, they'll begin to wake up. But don't worry about them until you've figured out stuff for yourself first. They won't remember anything, so they can explore and get used to how the world works, just like you did."

Naminé nodded, and Riku smiled softly before going back to work on the computer. However, she wasn't sure she could do everything they expected her to. She couldn't remember her own past completely, or how she knew any of the people around her. She understood that she couldn't be told, but it made her head hurt and her heart ache when she thought about other people depending on her when she couldn't even depend on herself.

Before she could move or say anything, Sora came to her side and guided her a few feet away from the computer and Riku.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly. "You look sad."

"I'm not sad," Naminé said, her voice barely above a whisper. "But… what if I mess up? What if I can't put Roxas and Axel's memories back where they belong?"

"You don't need to worry about that, Naminé. You'll do fine—"

"But I can barely remember where I come from, much less anything about anyone else. How will I know I'm doing the right thing?"

Sora gave a soft chuckle and pointed to her chest.

"You have a heart now, Naminé," he said. "That'll tell you if you're doing the right thing. Even when you didn't have one, it was talking to you. It was the reason you helped me and Riku and everyone else. It got you out of one bad place and put you in a lot of good ones. Now that it's really there and you can feel it, I know it'll keep you on track. You might not remember things now, but that doesn't mean the memories are gone. You told me that once. I believe it, and so should you."

He was still, and so was she. The only sound was Riku tapping away at the keyboard, and the very shallow breathing that found its way out of Naminé's body. She tried to look away, to not show Sora how scared she was, how unsure she was, how she couldn't shake the feeling that she would do something wrong and ruin everything and hurt the people that she knew were important to her.

But she couldn't. Her eyes met his and wouldn't waver. In showing him how afraid she was, he in turn showed her how confident he was. His eyes were brimming with trust, and not just to assure her. The smile on his face told her not to worry, and she believed it. The way he met her gaze made her unable to doubt him more than any words he could say.

"Hey guys, we're ready."

The two of them looked over at Riku as he straightened up from the computer. He typed a few more buttons and the light that both he and Sora had touched changed direction. It hit Roxas's pod first, which instantly disappeared, and then Axel's, which did the same. Naminé looked up at the monitor expectantly, thinking she would see them appear in the digital copy of the room she was standing in now. However, they never appeared. She realized they must have been sent to the coordinates Riku had mentioned.

"I have to go," Naminé said, and it was more of a realization than an announcement. Sora nodded, and Riku stepped forward and offered her a hand. Gingerly, she took it.

"If you need anything," the taller boy said, "we'll be there. You and Kairi have a special connection, and if you need help, we'll know it. We'll always be around her, and so we can always come here to get you." His eyes flickered up at Sora for a moment as he said this before meeting with hers again. "Everything will be fine. If anyone can do this, Naminé, it's you."

Naminé allowed him to guide her closer to the light, but still she hesitated.

"Hey, Naminé?" She half turned around to see that Sora was smiling at her. "I just wanted to tell you, you've done stuff like this before. You'll remember it soon, I'm sure of it. But until you do, just know that I've personally had experience with you and my memories, and there's nothing to worry about. Okay?"

Naminé laughed softly and nodded.

"Okay."

She released Riku's hand and touched the beam of light, and just like that, the room was gone.


	3. Memory

When Naminé realized the room was completely white, she felt her new heart stop for a moment. This wasn't a memory, she was sure of it, but this couldn't be the castle either. It had to be connected to Twilight Town somehow. Riku and Sora wouldn't send her to the wrong place. She trusted them.

Slowly, as she looked around in her frozen panic, the details of the room became familiar, and she knew that, while this was a place from her past, it wasn't the one she was doomed to be trapped in like the castle. It was a cage of sorts, she remembered, but she had come here for a very specific purpose, and by her own choice.

The white room had been where she'd spent a long time, working diligently on something. The pieces of the puzzle were there, but not all of them, and not all of them could fit together. She knew this place would help her remember the things that evaded her now.

Something about the room was different than what little she could recall of it. The walls were barren, much like those of the castle, but they hadn't always been like that. Once, something had hung there, something she had put there. She remembered hanging her drawings in the castle; was she mixing up memories, or had she done that here, too?

There was a long table in the center of the room. Instinctively, Naminé approached it and brushed her fingertips across its surface. She pulled back a chair and sat down, placing her sketchbook on the tabletop. The table was so unnecessarily large and put so much space between the two people who sat at the ends. She looked across and for a moment saw a vague figure there, recalling a memory.

Her brow furrowed lightly and she dipped her head in thought, squeezing her eyes shut like she had before.

 _"Organization XIII… they're a bad group."_

A voice, and not her own. A small gasp escaped her and she looked up quickly. Still, no one was there. This had to be a memory. She returned to her thoughtful position and tried to focus on the voice.

 _"Bad, or good… I don't know," said her own voice. The haze was filling in. "They're a group of incomplete people who wish to be whole. To that end, they're desperately searching for something."_

 _"What?" She looked up and saw a boy standing at the other end of the table, dressed in white, tan, and black. His eyes were a brilliant blue, like Sora's had been, and his spiky hair was blonde, though darker than her own._

 _"Kingdom Hearts," she answered. For some reason, he chuckled. "Funny?" she asked._

 _"It's just…" he began quietly, starting to walk her way, "I think I've been running away from the question I really want to ask." He braced himself against the table, as if knowing the answer to the question he was about to ask was not going to be what he wanted to hear._

His name was clear in her head. The way he spoke, the sadness lingering in his eyes. Naminé knew. This was Roxas.

 _"What's going to happen to me now?" Roxas practically whispered. "Just tell me that. Nothing else really matters anymore."_

 _"You are…" Naminé began, but then she was pulled away, out of the room._

 _They were in the digital Twilight Town. Someone else had been pulling the strings, placing people where they wanted them, creating the world they needed to get Roxas… to do something. Something important. He had to return to…_

Naminé's eyes snapped open again. She could almost remember.

Sighing deeply, the petite blonde folded her hands in her lap. She wasn't going to get anywhere like this, finding fragments of memories wrapped around all the questions floating in her head. She looked around the room again and shuddered at its barrenness. Where were Roxas and Axel? Riku must have placed them somewhere in town, but she couldn't know where.

From the way he and Sora had explained things, Roxas and Axel were going to remember even less than she did currently. How could she be any help to anyone if she couldn't help herself? She couldn't get past that thought. Perhaps there were answers in what she had already remembered.

She recalled her flashback to the castle, where she had first been awakened. She had the power of sculpting reality by using someone's recollections of other worlds. That memory had served as a way to give her confidence to help Roxas and Axel, she realized. But what of this one? She already knew Roxas, although he had been hazy at first. Why remember this final moment she had seen him as he was, completely himself?

She paused in her thoughts. _Had_ that been the final time she'd seen him? And why had she thought about him being completely himself? Shaking her head, Naminé returned to thinking about the conversation itself. Organization XIII… they were important.

Suddenly she saw a flash of the man in black robes with pink hair. He had been with Organization XIII.

" _What do we have here?"_

His voice had been so chilling. She didn't like that man. Who was he, and why did she remember him so vividly. Sucking in a slow breath, Naminé willed her eyes closed again and let her mind's eye see nothing but white.

" _My name… is Naminé," Naminé had answered. The man looked down at her with a mixture of intrigue and annoyance._

" _What, someone already beat us here?" came a voice behind the man. It became apparent he was not alone, and even more footsteps entered the hall._

 _A woman stepped out from behind the pink-haired man and put a hand on her hip as her vibrant green eyes scanned Naminé up and down. She pouted, and Naminé looked away._

" _Well, she doesn't look like much of a problem," the woman sneered. "Let's just get rid of her."_

" _Now hold on a sec," came another voice. Naminé was afraid to look up and make eye contact with the woman again, but her desire to know the other speaker was stronger than her fear. A man with red hair like fire gave the woman an exasperated look._

" _Isn't there not supposed to be anyone in this castle?" he asked. "If she's here, that means she's special. We should keep her around, learn more about her." He stepped past the man with the pink hair and squatted to Naminé's eye level. His seafoam orbs locked with hers and she found she couldn't look away._

" _Naminé, you said?" he asked her, then smiled. "I'm Axel. Got it memorized?"_

 _Naminé didn't answer, just nodded her head._

" _Great!" Axel exclaimed, then straightened up. "This here is Marluxia and Larxene. You see, our boss wants us to use this place as a research facility. We didn't expect to find anyone here."_

 _Naminé still said nothing._

" _And, as the new lord of this castle, I would like to know more about you," the man with pink hair, Marluxia, stated. "Do you come from the castle, Naminé?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Interesting. You live here?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Can't you say something more than yes?" Larxene questioned, already irritated. "How about you tell us what you're doing here?"_

 _Naminé said nothing._

" _Patience, Larxene," Marluxia chided. "I think she's just unsure of the company. She'll warm up to us." This time he was the one to kneel down in front of her. "Naminé, could you show us around the castle?"_

 _She was about to nod when she remembered the room suddenly becoming the island from her mind. She ended up shaking her head and looking away._

" _Why is that?" Marluxia asked._

" _Stop babying her!" Larxene snapped. She stood over Naminé, glaring down at her. "Hey, little girl. Show us around the castle, or we'll remove you from it. Permanently. Sound like a deal?"_

" _Larxene, you can't calm down, can you?" Axel sighed. "Can't you tell she's scared?"_

" _Can't you tell she's a Nobody?" Larxene retorted. "Look at her. Nothing but a husk, I can sense it. And Nobodies can't feel. So tell me again she's scared."_

" _She just seems different, that's all," Axel shrugged. "But if you think she's a Nobody, I can't argue with you there. She definitely has that empty vibe going on."_

" _Nobody?" Naminé asked._

" _See? She does speak when she wants to. Brat," Larxene spat._

" _A Nobody," Marluxia answered, "is a being without a heart. When someone loses their heart, they leave behind their body. You are that body, Naminé. Which is to say, you are Nobody. Just like us."_

" _But ignoring all of that, Naminé, how come you can't show us the castle?" Axel asked, waving off the beginnings of Larxene's impatient rants._

 _Hesitating for the moment, but liking Axel the most out of the three, she decided to tell them the truth._

" _The castle… changed," she admitted. "There are… pictures, on the walls. I put them there. When I went back inside, the room changed."_

 _The three older Nobodies did not expect that answer. They appeared taken aback, and Marluxia was the first to recover._

" _Can you show us?" he asked. "We'll be sure to ensure your safety if you lead the way."_

" _Go on, Naminé," Axel encouraged._

 _Giving a shallow nod, Naminé turned her back on the three intruders and made her way up the steps to the first set of doors. She paused, waiting for them to follow, and then, taking a deep breath, she pushed the doors open and let the island sunlight pierce the hall._

 _There were a collection of gasps and murmuring between the others as Naminé led them around the beach. She vaguely remembered the directions from her blind run through the room the first time, and leaving the doors ajar helped her in the maze-like corridors. They reached a room with a large ladder that would take them to the second floor, and she paused again._

" _Naminé, where did this place come from?" Marluxia asked._

 _The small Nobody said nothing but pointed to the wall. Blended perfectly with the surroundings was a barely visible piece of sketchbook paper with her scribbles on it. Larxene crossed the floor and ripped the page off the wall. There was a shudder in the floor and a bright flash, and then the island was gone. The normal white halls of the castle were in its place._

" _Looks like we have a witch," Larxene smirked and turned back to Naminé with a cruel smile. "We didn't know you had such… incredible powers, Naminé. How did you do this?"_

" _I just drew," Naminé answered quickly and looked away._

" _And what about this place?" she continued to interrogate. "Where did you get the idea from it?"_

" _My head," Naminé said quietly. Larxene cleared her throat, demanding more. "I… have thoughts… about a boy… and his friends. They go to a lot of places… this is where he used to live before… he started traveling."_

 _A short laugh left Larxene as she turned back to Marluxia and Axel. Axel seemed somewhat confused, but Marluxia stepped forward with a knowing smile._

" _Naminé," he began, "do you happen to have a name for this boy?"_

 _Naminé shook her head._

" _How long have you been here, Naminé?" Larxene asked._

" _I don't know," Naminé answered. "A long time."_

" _And you've been alone all that time?" Marluxia added._

" _Yes."_

" _How horrible for you. And this boy in your head… he's the only person you've known before now?"_

" _Yes."_

" _But you've never even met him!" Larxene giggled. "How tragic for you, to have a friend you've never met!"_

" _But… I think you could meet him," Marluxia said softly, as though he was thinking aloud and not meant to be heard._

" _What?" asked Naminé, her curiosity piqued. The boy in her head… was he real?_

" _I think this boy isn't just an imaginary friend…" Marluxia mused. "Tell me… does he happen… to carry around a strange-looking sword?"_

 _Naminé thought hard. She didn't remember seeing any weapons. Just as soon as she was sure she hadn't seen anything, an image flashed through her mind. It was the boy, and in his hand he held an oversized key._

" _Yes," she answered._

" _Naminé… what I believe is happening is that you're looking into this boy's head, rather than him going into yours," Marluxia explained. "The pictures you've drawn, you said there's more?"_

" _Lots more."_

" _So let me get this straight," Larxene interrupted. "You can see into this boy's head and all the places he's been? He must be pretty important to you if you can do that. What do you think?"_

 _Naminé knew better than to not answer Larxene._

" _I suppose… he must be," she replied, her voice almost a whisper._

" _But he's off gallivanting around with some weird weapon and not even bothering to stop in and say hello!" the tall blonde continued. "I think that's rude. I wonder… what would happen if you could get in his head like he got in yours."_

" _Wait, you think…" Axel muttered. "Her drawings can influence his mind, like his mind is influencing her drawings?"_

" _Exactly," Marluxia answered. "This could prove to be quite useful. This castle seems to have unique properties as well. Not any place can turn drawings to life, and not just any drawings can bring life to a place. This truly is an oblivion. I'm sure Vexen could utilize these drawings, simplify them down to something easy, something we can replicate… Say, a card, perhaps. Then we can…"_

 _All that they were talking about was going over Naminé's head, but she stayed quiet and tried to listen. Larxene beckoned Marluxia over and they began to speak with hushed voices. Though she was curious, Naminé was too afraid to get closer to them and listen. Before she could gather her courage, Axel approached her._

" _So you're lonely, huh?" he asked. Naminé shuffled her feet. She had never really thought about it, all that time spent in the cold, white hallways of the castle by herself. She had never even considered someone else's company, although she always felt a twinge whenever she saw the pictures of the boy with his friends in her head. She wanted friends too._

" _It's okay," Axel continued. "I think you'll be getting some friends very soon. Just remember, friends don't always pop up in the way you expect them to."_

 _Naminé gave a slight start, surprised by his advice, but before she could ask him about it, Marluxia returned to her side._

" _Naminé," he said, "I think we have an idea. You see, we think we know the boy in your head. All the running around he has done has complicated things for us, and we need him to come here. What better way than to have him come meet a new friend?"_

 _Naminé blinked. She didn't understand._

" _What Marluxia means is, that boy in your head is coming to see you!" Larxene grinned. It wasn't a very friendly grin. "But you'll need to cooperate if we want this to work. You know him, obviously, but he doesn't know you. So… you're going to need that sketchbook of yours to do a little… arrangement of his memories."_

" _What do you mean?" Naminé asked, her voice dry in her mouth._

" _This boy doesn't know who you are," Marluxia explained. "If you want to see him, you'll have to give him a reason to come to you. Otherwise, he wouldn't bother. He's far too busy with his other friends."_

 _Naminé frowned. There was the same twinge she'd felt viewing his happiest memories. Jealousy._

" _What's more, is that we can tell you all about him," Larxene continued. "We know his friends, what he likes, what's important to him… and his name, of course."_

" _What's his name?" Naminé asked, the words leaping out of her mouth before she could stop them. Her hands shook slightly as they gripped the edges of her sketchbook, as though letting go would cause her to slip out of existence. Marluxia narrowed his eyes in a satisfied manner, one that scared Naminé to death, but she didn't care. She just wanted the boy's name._

" _I will tell you… but first you must accompany me to the top of the castle," he said._

 _Naminé nodded._

Naminé's eyes snapped open. She remembered now. Marluxia, Larxene, Axel… they had all been part of Organization XIII. Even Roxas had been a member at one point. They had utilized her power to rewrite Sora's memories, to try to make him their pawn, but Axel had helped her stop. Sora had rescued her and she had put him to sleep to return his memories to normal. It was just like how Axel and Roxas were now.

If she could help Sora, then she could help Axel and Roxas, too.

There was a burning sensation in her heart. Regret. She knew she had done wrong in the past, but she stood from the table with a smile. She could do something to change that. Flipping through her sketchbook, Naminé found the drawings she had made of Axel and Roxas.

They were best friends. She could remember that as well. Maybe that was what made Axel help her; he didn't want Roxas to be disappointed in him.

She also remembered Roxas had lost his memory when he was put in the digital Twilight Town. Another man – DiZ, she remembered at once – had put him there to restore Sora. Riku had been there too, helping to protect her as she worked on fixing Sora and helping Roxas find his own destiny.

But now, Roxas was his own person. He wasn't part of Sora anymore. But in order for him to be Roxas, he would have to remember everything about himself. Axel too. There were things she still couldn't see, memories just out of reach, but now, at least, she knew where to start.

Carefully, Naminé tore the portraits of Roxas and Axel out of her sketchbook and gingerly placed them on the table. Perhaps this room functioned like Castle Oblivion. She remembered hanging pictures of Sora's memories on the walls, and that helping him to remember his past. Would it work like that here, too? This was a digital space, she reminded herself, so anything was possible.

She was about to pin the portraits to the wall when she thought of something. Pausing in her work, she walked to the large window on the far side of the room and peeked past the curtain. Orange light poured in, the warmest light she had seen since she'd awoken. It was so inviting; she wanted to open the glass and let the summer breeze in, to feel that sunlight on her skin uninterrupted by walls.

The whole world was out there. Naminé knew that world could not be empty if she were to send Roxas and Axel into it. But to populate so many people… that would take time, time she didn't have if they were to wake up soon. Nothing could be worse than the two of them waking with no idea of who they were. She thought to herself about a solution, decided on something, and sat down and got to work.

When her drawing was done, she put it on the back wall. That would be the wall for the town as a whole, not connected to memories, she decided. Hopefully the program would respond the way she intended.

 _Day at the Beach!_ the sign read. Another said _Gone to the beach, back tomorrow!_

A festival at the beach. That sounded like a good enough distraction.

Satisfied with her cover-up, Naminé returned to the portraits of Axel and Roxas. She picked up Roxas's first, and held it out in front of her. The right wall, she decided. There was a quiet clacking sound as she paced over to the place Roxas had stood in her memories the last time she saw him. She took a deep breath, then tacked the portrait on the wall.


End file.
